Sitting in my tiny, damp, lounge with carpet so worn you could see the floorboards (and feel the sharp nails under your feet), over 20 recent graduates were arranged on, in, and around the furniture. Most of them had been at my birthday party the night before, and were feeling a little (a lot) worse for wear. All of them wanted to be a part of the theatre company I had decided to set up. It was our first meeting, and, although it feels like a lifetime ago, I remember very clearly, when we talked about a mission statement, the only firm agreement was that we wanted to ‘make good theatre’.
That was May 2010. Now, over 3 years on, some of those people still form the core team at Blackshaw. And, perhaps even more thrillingly, we have a host of new faces. People we’ve met along the way, and who have stuck around. This August, we did an open call for new team members. We realised that Blackshaw was taking on more and more work, which is blooming marvellous. But more stuff, needs more people. It felt very grown up, putting job descriptions and ads together, shortlisting, interviewing. I’m thrilled to say that the Blackshaw team has grown to include:
Johny Chhetri – Social Events Manager
Nicole Locke – Administrator
Robert Hugill – Publicity, PR and Marketing Assistant
Zak Thomas – Publicity, PR and Marketing Assistant
Stanley Walton – Publicity, PR and Marketing Assistant
Irene Larrauri – Publicity, PR and Marketing Assistant
Nick Tatchell (former Social Events Manager) has moved into new role ‘Funding & Partnerships’, while Vikki Weston (former Education Manager) is now our ‘Strategy & Planning Manager’ (also a new role).
Every now and again, when I think that all these lovely, talented people are giving their time to Blackshaw, something I started, I get a leaping jump of excitement in my tummy. *proud face*
Ellie – Director
Blackshaw Theatre 